Our invention is drawn to a process for determining excitants and attractants for members of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea, apparatus for carrying out such a process and a method for exciting and/or attracting members of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea by means of placing within a body of water near a surface or volume to which such Crustacea are desired to be attracted, a Crustacea attracting concentration of at least one of the substances:
(i) N-acetyl-alpha-D-Glucosamine, a mixture of compounds having the structures: ##STR2## (ii) S-methyl methionine sulfonium chloride having the structure: ##STR3## (iii) trimethyl amine oxide hydrate having the structure: ##STR4## (iv) 1-octen-3-ol having the structure: ##STR5## (v) methional having the structure: ##STR6## (vi) dimethyl sulfoxide having the structure: ##STR7## (vii) 50:50 mole:mole mixture of skatole/indole, skatole having the structure: ##STR8## indole having the structure: ##STR9## (viii) propionthetin (bromide) having the structure: ##STR10## PA1 (i) N-acetyl-alpha-D-Glucosamine, a mixture of compounds having the structures: ##STR11## (ii) S-methyl methionine sulfonium chloride having the structure: ##STR12## (iii) trimethyl amine oxide hydrate having the structure: ##STR13## (iv) 1-octen-3-ol having the structure: ##STR14## (v) methional having the structure: ##STR15## (vi) dimethyl sulfoxide having the structure: ##STR16## (vii) 50:50 mole:mole mixture of skatole/indole, skatole having the structure: ##STR17## indole having the structure: ##STR18## (viii) propiothetin (bromide) having the structure: ##STR19## PA1 (i) N-acetyl-alpha-D-Glucosamine, a mixture of compounds having the structures: ##STR21## (ii) S-methyl methionine sulfonium chloride having the structure: ##STR22## (iii) trimethyl amine oxide hydrate having the structure: ##STR23## (iv) 1-octen-3-ol having the structure: ##STR24## (v) methional having the structure: ##STR25## (vi) dimethyl sulfoxide having the structure: ##STR26## and (vii) 50:50 mole:mole mixture of skatole/indole, skatole having the structure: ##STR27## indole having the structure: ##STR28## (viii) propionthetin (bromide) having the structure: ##STR29## to the vicinity of said desired surface or volume. Our invention also describes a process for exciting a member of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea within a volume of water inhabited by such member of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea comprising the seep of applying an aqueous solution containing a Crustaceion-exciting concentration of one of the above materials to the vicinity of said volume inhabited by said member of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea. Examples of such Penaeus genus of Crustacea are Penaeus setiferus and Penaeus vannamei. PA1 (i) the compound having the structure: ##STR31## (ii) the compound having the structure: ##STR32## (iii) the compound having the structure: ##STR33## (iv) the compound having the structure: ##STR34## (v) the compound having the structure: ##STR35## (vi) the compound having the structure: ##STR36## (vii) the compound having the structure: ##STR37## (viii) the compound having the structure: ##STR38## (ix) the compound having the structure: ##STR39## (x) the compound having the structure: ##STR40## (xi) the compound having the structure: ##STR41## (xii) the mixture of compounds having the structures: ##STR42## (xiii) the mixture of compounds having the structures: ##STR43## (xiv) Thaumatin (known as TALIN.RTM. a trademark of the Tate and Lyle Company Limited of the United Kingdom), a mixture of Thaumatin B, Thaumatin I and Thaumatin II the liquid chromatograms of which are indicated in FIGS. 23 and 24 attached hereto and described, infra. Thaumatin I is shown also by the symbol: EQU [Lys.sup.46, Asp.sup.113, Asp.sup.137 ]
Aquatic animals utilize water-borne "chemical signals" (chemical stimuli) to identify and orient toward potential prey, to escape predators and locate mates. These specific chemical signals are recognized in spite of the chemical complexity of aquatic environments. Therefore, the chemical ecology of aquatic animals is vitally important, both physiologically and behaviorally, to understand the status and role of animals in the aquatic environment. The function of specific chemical signals becomes even more significant in a managed biological system (i.e., aquaculture ponds or tanks) that is optimized for production of a single aquatic species (e.g., members of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea) since these chemical signals regulate feeding behavior and control reproduction. Because feeds are a significant expense in all aquaculture operations, the need to maximize feeding rates and reduce wasted feed, thereby lowering production costs, is paramount to economic success.
The importance of chemoattractants and/or feeding stimulants in improving both initial palatability and overall feeding rates as a means to reduce wasted feed is now fully recognized. The feed quality and environmental conditions (i.e., water quality and current patterns) have direct effects on the effectiveness of feed attractants and feed stimulants. For these reasons, food detection and feeding stimulation ultimately determine the commercial value of an aquatic feed.
A number of attempts at obtention of efficacious feeding stimulants for various aquatic species and for creation of appropriate testing apparatus having a high degree of efficiency for determining good stimulants and attractants for aquatic species are set forth in the literature. Thus, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,250,835 issued Feb. 17, 1981 and 4,249,480 issued Feb. 10, 1981 disclose apparatus and methods for rearing shrimp through the larvae stage wherein the shrimp are subjected to controlled conditions and a common enclosure for the male and female adult shrimp is provided which permits uncontrolled access of the shrimp to one another and wherein the shrimp are maintained through a plurality of cycles of mating, spawning and hatching. The system disclosed provides filtration means for filtering the medium of the common enclosure and with collecting means for collecting hatched shrimp at preselected times from the common enclosure medium as the medium moves into the filtration means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,829 of May 9, 1989 discloses a visual fish attractant that visually attracts fish and aids in the dispersion of traditional scent and taste attractants. The fish attractant compositions include one or more oils, such as mineral oil, cod liver oil, menhaden oil, herring oil, anise oil, salmon oil, as well as pigments, fragrances, fish scent, dispersed pigments, and light-reflective particles that act both as a visual attractant and as an aid to controlled dispersion of the oil and scent compositions.
Lombardo, et al, Comp.Biochem.Physiol.,Vol. 101C, No. 2, pages 389-398, 1992, "Amino Acids And Derivatives As Food-Finding Signals In The Freshwater Snail Planorbarius Corneus (L.) discloses the behavioral responses of the freshwater snail to various amino acids including L-aspartic acid, D-alanine, histamine, proline, and aspartame.
Nothing in the prior art however discloses the efficient process for attracting members of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea from a volume of water inhabited by said member of the Penaeus genus of Crustacea to a desired surface or volume within a body of water by applying at least one of the specific materials found to be useful in our invention, to wit:
It should be pointed out however that the compounds having the structures: ##STR20## wherein X is a "univalent anion" such as chloro or bromo are used to attract in a gel vertebrate fish such as red snapper and carp in Japanese Published Application J91/27231 (Nakajima) abstracted at Chem. Abstracts Volume 115:113303n. The disclosure of Japanese Published Application 91/27231 does not detract from the patentability of the instant invention.